-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Meat is murder ? Well , perhaps not for much longer .

Artist Banksy has satirized modern farming and meat production ; could in-vitro meat be a better option ?

A pioneering group of scientists are working to grow real animal protein in the laboratory , which they not only claim is better for animal welfare , but actually healthier , both for people and the planet . It may sound like science fiction , but this technology to create in-vitro meat could be changing global diets within ten years .

`` Cultured meat would have a lot of advantages , '' said Jason Matheny of research group New Harvest . `` We could precisely control the amount of fat in meat . We could make ground beef with an ideal fatty acid ratio -- a hamburger that prevents heart attacks instead of causing them . ''

But it is n't just the possibility of creating designer ground beef with the fat profile of salmon that drives Matheny 's work . Meat and livestock farming is also the source of many human diseases , which he claims would be far less common when the product is raised in laboratory conditions .

`` We could reduce the risks of diseases like swine flu , avian flu , ` mad cow disease ' , or contamination from Salmonella , '' he told CNN . `` We could produce meat in sterile conditions that are impossible in conventional animal farms and slaughterhouses . And when we grow only the meat we can eat , it 's more efficient . There 's no need to grow the whole animal and lose 75 to 95 percent of what we feed it . ''

Conventional meat production is also hard on the environment . The contribution of livestock to climate change was recently highlighted by the United Nations ' report , `` Livestock 's Long Shadow '' , while groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have demonstrated how soy farming for animal feed contributes to the destruction of the Amazon .

In this context Matheny believes his project could significantly cut the environmental impact of meat production -- using much less water and producing far fewer greenhouse gases .

`` We could reduce the environmental footprint of meat , which currently contributes more to global warming than the entire transportation sector , '' says Matheny .

Preliminary results from a study by Hanna Tuomisto , at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit , University of Oxford , suggest that cultured meat would reduce the carbon emissions of meat production by more than 80 percent .

Making cultured meat

In-vitro meat is made from samples of animals conventionally slaughtered . For example , `` pork '' is made from pig ovaries retrieved from slaughterhouses , which are fertilized with pig semen , transforming them into embryos . They are then placed in a nutrient solution , where they grow and develop .

It 's a long way from the popular image of animals wandering round the farmyard in the sunshine , but then so is modern intensive farming . The factor that could take the research from the lab to the store and into refrigerators around the world is its remarkable commercial potential .

According to New Harvest , meat is already estimated to be a $ 1 trillion global market , and demand is expected to double by 2050 . With concerns about health , animal welfare and the environment growing the appeal of in vitro meat is obvious .

Matheny told CNN that venture capitalists Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have shown an interest in his technology , while Stegman , a sausage subsidiary of food giant Sara Lee , is a partner . The Netherlands ' Government has also invested around $ 4 million in Dutch research into in-vitro meat production .

But it is n't just the suits who are circling with their checkbooks out -- campaign group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -LRB- PETA -RRB- have announced a $ 1 million prize for the first commercially viable in vitro chicken product . The Humane Society of the United States has also been supportive .

`` We think that a technology to produce cultured ground meats -- burgers , sausages , nuggets , and so forth -- could be commercialized within ten years , '' said Matheny .

`` As with most technologies , successive generations should improve in price , quality , and acceptance . We do n't think that matching the taste and texture of ground meats will be very difficult . Both conventional and cultured meat is made of muscle tissue . And conventional ground meat is typically highly processed . Chicken nuggets for instance , are made of something called ` meat slurry ' -- it would be hard not to do better ! ''

Public attitude

But the public does n't always blindly buy what companies believe they should , and acceptance of what is a very radical proposition certainly is n't a foregone conclusion . There are bound to be claims of `` Frankenfoods , '' and reaction against the work .

`` Social acceptance is n't guaranteed , but we all want meat that 's safer and healthier , '' he said . `` If cultured meat looks , tastes , and costs the same as regular meat , then I think acceptance will be high . The more we learn about the health and environmental impact of conventional meat , the more cultured meat looks like a good alternative . ''

One obvious touchstone for how in-vitro-meat will be received by the public is perhaps the way GM crops were -- or were not - accepted around the world , something that Matheny draws encouragement from .

`` What 's interesting about the GM issue is that it has been controversial in some places , but is a non-issue for most consumers , '' he said .

`` Most Americans are regularly eating GM foods . In any case , it 's not necessarily the case that cultured meat would involve GM foods .

`` We all want meat that 's safer and healthier . If cultured meat looks , tastes , and costs the same as regular meat , then do we care that it 's produced in a steel tank , rather than in an animal farm ?

`` Take hydroponic vegetables . We like the idea that they 're produced in sterile water instead of dirt and manure . It 's true that in-vitro meat is n't natural . Nor for that matter are hydroponic vegetables , or bread , or cheese , or wine . Raising 10,000 chickens indoors and pumping them full of drugs is n't natural , either , and it is n't healthy or safe . The more we learn about how meat is produced now , the more in-vitro meat looks like a better alternative . ''

Lab-produced meat also raises some ethical considerations . Kate McMahon , Friends of the Earth Energy and Transport campaigner , believes more attention should be paid to improving livestock conditions rather than developing in-vitro meat .

`` At a time when hundreds of small-scale , sustainable farming operations are filing for bankruptcy every day , it is unethical to consider purchasing petri dish meat . Rather , we should be making it easier and more affordable to raise livestock in a safe , humane and ecologically sensitive manner , '' she told CNN .

Gillian Madill , Genetics Technologies spokesperson for Friends of the Earth , thinks that clear parameters for in-vitro development need to put in place : `` If we can successfully develop these products , what is the defining line between lab-grown meat and natural animals ? '' she told CNN .

`` That is an especially important question since a high level of differentiation and tissue complexity is required to replicate muscle tissue that we use as meat . We need to draw clear lines in order to prevent the commodification of all life . ''

Ultimately the success of in-vitro meat may be less about consumer sensibilities and more about the hard realities of feeding a growing global population in a finite world .

`` With India and China doubling their meat consumption every decade , there 's no sustainable way to satisfy the growing global appetite for meat without a significant improvement in technology , '' said Matheny .

`` Cultured meat offers one solution . Improved plant-based meat substitutes offer another . I expect both will be needed . ''

Test tube burgers ? It seems you could be eating them sooner than you might expect .

What do you think of in-vitro meat ? Do you think it could be a solution to the problems connected to meat production and climate change ? Let us know in the Sound Off box below .

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Ongoing research into in-vitro meat ; grown in a lab using animal samples

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Advocates say in-vitro meat is better for health of humans and environment

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Lab-made meat could be served in a decade , says research scientist Jason Matheny